Everyone knows who Karl Joseph is, but there is another West Virginia safety that should be highly regarded in draft circles as well. That prospect is KJ Dillon, who has the playmaking ability and tools to be a dynamic safety at the next level, but a team needs to be patient with his impatient mistakes in both coverage and run support.

SS KJ Dillon

College: West Virginia
Year: Senior
Birth Year: N/A
Height: 6-0
Weight: 210
Arm Length: 31 5/8
Hand Size: 9 5/8

Combine Results

40 Time: 4.53
Bench: 11 reps
Vertical: N/A
Broad: 121 inches
3-Cone: N/A
Short Shuttle: N/A
60-yard Shuttle: N/A

Analysis

One of the best traits that I like about KJ Dillon’s game is his cornerback-like cover skills in man coverage. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a team who likes to utilize Cover 3 drafts him to be a press cornerback. He has shown throughout his career that he can engulf and mirror receivers in the slot consistently, and with his play strength at the LOS as well as his fluidity to shadow the receiver laterally, his cover skills will translate well at the next level. Dillon is superb in anticipating the route and getting on the hip pocket of the receiver, but what I like even more is how physical he is at the LOS in Press. Here is a play where he just engulfs Sterling Shepard with his play strength and completely takes him out of the play.

I like what Dillon is able to do in man coverage when he is able to react and close on everything underneath, but with that being said, he does struggle to flip his hips and turn vertical with a receiver. I’ve said before that he is a fluid moving guy when asked to mirror the receiver, but it takes too long for him to turn and run down the field, and in the meantime, he will grab at his opponent’s jersey once he knows the receiver has a step on him. What I saw was an impatient player who is looking to win right away with his physicality at the LOS, but when he lets a receiver gain a step vertically, it’s over.

In addition, he will also have occasional mental lapses here as well. This could’ve been simply a communication error between Dillon and Worley, but regardless, it looked like Dillon’s eyes were fixated on the quarterback and let the receiver run by him, leaving two defenders in the flats and one receiver dancing in the end-zone. These kind of momentary lapses in coverage put players on the bench, but he just needs to make sure that this isn’t a consistent problem or it will lead to a huge hurdle in terms of playing time for him.

Whether Dillon was playing over the top as a safety in the back end, or in man coverage with responsibilities in the slot, he was a consistent playmaker with heavy production in terms of both interceptions and deflections. He is able to look over his shoulder and find the football effortlessly in Man, but when playing back, he seems to be in better position than anyone else on the field that is able to make a play on the ball.

Dillon explodes through ball carriers and has fun doing so. There are some players who live on the contact that they inflict, and KJ Dillon is one of those players. While running downhill, he has the wherewithal to weave through traffic and find his target. I worry about him playing at one speed and not being able to break down in the open field, but in terms of him getting off blocks and leveling ball carriers in tight quarters, he is a man to be reckoned with in run support.

Here is the open-field tackling problem that I alluded to earlier. He is either running through you, or running around you because he struggles to play at two different speeds. Once drafted and brought into camp, the coaching staff needs to work on him breaking down in the open field and playing under control. This inconsistency could drive coaches and fans crazy with his JJ Wilcox kind of recklessness, which will result in a ton of missed tackles that should be easily executed. In addition, he is a hitter instead of a tackler at this stage of his development.

To go right along with his open field tackling, he is a bit lazy with his path to the football in terms of pursuit angles. Like I said earlier, he is seen running around ball carriers because he is out of control far more often than he is breaking down and wrapping them up. His reactionary quickness is excellent, but that doesn’t matter if he overruns the play like on this clip here. A lot of his flaws are technique-driven both in coverage and run support, but he needs some serious work with his discipline and fundamentals in the run game more than anything.

In conclusion, KJ Dillon is an athletic, rangy safety who can line up in man coverage and take slot receivers completely out of the play with both his hand strength and footwork, but he is an impatient player in all facets of the game that is caught playing the game a bit too fast at times. For every splash play he has with his interceptions and big hits behind the LOS, he also has serious head scratchers that mitigate those highlights with his mental lapses in both coverage and run support. There is a part of me that might want to experiment him as a long press cornerback on the outside at the next level, but the majority of teams in the league will use him as a safety who can provide a ton of versatility in that he can play deep, in the box, or in the slot. With that being said, he has an extremely high ceiling that can be reached with his athleticism, playmaking ability, cover skills, and physicality, but he also has an extremely low floor if he is unable to improve on his technique and cut down the mental lapses he has in both coverage and run support. I may not be able to spend a Top 50 pick on someone like that, but if he is there in the late third round, his talent and upside to play all over the field will outweigh my concerns with him.

Grade: Late 3rd Round